Moonmade Rings

NASA / JPL / SSI

Moonmade Rings

This view, acquired with the Sun almost directly behind Saturn, reveals a previously unknown faint ring of material coincident with the orbit of the small moon Pallene. This viewing geometry makes microscopic, icy ring particles brighten substantially. Cassini spent nearly 12 hours in Saturn's shadow on September 15, 2006 making observations like this one. The new Pallene ring is a faint narrow band, about 2,500 kilometers across, between the E ring and the G ring. The view looks down from about 15 degrees above the unilluminated side of the rings. Some faint spokes can also be spotted in the main rings, made visible by sunlight diffusing through the B ring.